The Last Year
by BLAHBLAHXO
Summary: .a short fic about how Lily and James fall in love Lily may also be refered to as Lucy this is a mistake. I have finished the story Cry I forgot to mention my lovly beta reader Su she is brilliant Siriusly She is like WOW! oh and I don't own Hp.
1. Chapter 1

"James. James. James. Jaaaaaaaaames. Prongs. Answer me," Sirius whined.

"What? What the heck do you want?" James asked, looking up from his Potions homework.

"Well, if you're going to take that tone with me, forget it," Sirius 'sobbed'.

James carried on with his homework, although he hated homework; he only did it to please Lily. After ten more minutes, Sirius started again

"James. Prongsy. James. James. James. James," Sirius pestered.

"What, my most beautiful and loyal friend ever-and may I add most handsome?" James replied sarcastically, whilst the others tried to hold in their laughter.

"Well, if you're going to take the gay approach to it, you can forget it again," Sirius said, pretending to be taken aback.

That did it. Remus fell off his chair laughing. Peter just looked clueless-like normal, except this time he had his head in a book. Lily had persuaded the Marauders to study for their N.E.W.Ts that were to take place in a few months. As you might imagine, this was hard work on Lily's part. James wanted to play pranks, Sirius wanted to chase girls, Peter wanted to eat, and Remus-well, actually Remus didn't mind studying one bit.

It was a warm day and the Gryffindor common room was packed, mainly with third years and some seventh years. The third years' O.W.Ls were coming up, along with their job-option interviews with their Heads of Houses. Lily, who was fed up with the Marauders' whining, had retreated to the Heads' dorm to continue her studying. James and Lily had been appointed Head Girl and Boy. James had never served as a Prefect, however, so his appointment as a Head came as a shock to everyone-everyone except Lily, who was traumatised by the fact she had to spend the entire year with the guy who had chased her for six years-SIX BLOOMING YEARS-and nagged her to go out with him. So far she had resisted his pleas, but what would happen if she had to share a dorm with him?

Back in the Gryffindor common room, James had given up studying and was saying goodbye to his friends.

"Okay, I'm off to take a shower and then I'm gonna go to bed, so see you tomorrow," James shouted over his shoulder as he exited the common room. He made sure no one was looking and then swiftly pulled out his Invisibility Cloak from within his robes. He quickly threw it over himself and scurried off down the corridor. As he approached his destination, he leaned one finger out of the cloak and gently tickled the pear in a picture of fruit that hung on the wall. The picture swung open, and a sea of bat-like ears and massive round eyes swiveled in his direction. He had reached the kitchen.

"What can we be doing for you today, sir?" a small house-elf asked quietly.

"Oh, I was wondering if you had any food left over from the feast. And you don't have to call me sir. How many times have I told you?" James sighed.

"You are too kind. Yes, we have food left over from the feast. Would you like some?" the same elf asked.

"If you would be so kind," James replied.

The elves scurried off to find a container for the food and quickly packed enough to feed three hungry hippos. They passed the box to James, who accepted it gratefully. James pulled the Cloak back over him and left the kitchen. He wanted to surprise Lily, because with all the studying she'd been doing she barely had time to eat. James was getting a bit worried about her.

Quickly and carefully he made it to the Heads' dorm and clambered in. Unfortunately for him, he tripped over the Cloak and came crashing down atop the box of food. Lily screamed and ran over to the body that lay awkwardly on the floor.

"Oh. It's just you," she scowled. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get up."

"Here, take this," James gasped as he pulled the box out from under him.

"Er, what is it, Potter?" Lily asked suspiciously, hoping this wasn't another of his ways to ask her out. There had been so many ways; he'd even bewitched her sunglasses once to read 'You will marry James Potter one day' on them whenever she wore them.

"It's food. I noticed you haven't been eating a lot these past few weeks, and, well, I was worried about you." James blushed

"Oh, well, cheers, James," Lily stammered.

James stood up and smirked. He wasn't sure if Lily had noticed that she had used his first name. He brushed himself down and sat down next to her. He looked at the girl's red hair and smiled. He was in love...STILL!

"Lily, will you go-" James began.

"No, I won't go out with you. Don't even ask," Lily shouted angrily.

"I wasn't going to say that," James smirked, causing Lily to blush. "What I was going to say is, 'Lily, will you go and get your shower soon so we can go on our rounds?'"

Lily looked at her shoes, wishing she had never said anything. Her face was glowing bright red, she was sure of it. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see James grinning. She knew that he'd used that as a cover-up. He had been doing that often, whether to make her feel embarrassed or to stop people thinking he had just been rejected, Lily wasn't sure.

Lily had her shower and got dressed as quickly as possible. Her round started in five minutes. She magically dried her hair and styled it into a bun, then set off to get James.

"Come on, we have to go. It's time to do our rounds," Lily hissed.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Chill, woman," James laughed.

As they paced around corridor after corridor, it appeared no one was out of bed. Their rounds didn't end until midnight and it was just before eleven. They sat down for a bit in the Great Hall and nipped to the kitchen for a drink. When they finished their pumpkin juice, James checked the time.

"Aw, it's only half eleven," he said, disappointed. "C'mon, let's carry on patroling.".

Lily agreed. Still they found nothing. At five minutes of midnight they started back to their dorms. As they turned into a deserted corridor, James froze.

"Did you hear that? Just then?" he breathed.

"No, what was it?" Lily mouthed.

"It sounded like voices." James replied the same way Lily had responded.

Lily pulled her wand out and started to move forward, motioning for James to do the same. As they began to walk, the voices got a bit louder, although the people they belonged to were just whispering. The two Heads came to a broom closet, where the voice were even louder. James tip-toed over and opened the closet door.

"Twenty points from-"James stammered when he saw the red-faced occupants.

"Professor Dumbledore? Professor McGonagall?" Lily whispered, rather embarrassed. Well, wouldn't you be embarrassed if you walked in on two teachers kissing?

A/N- so what did ya think? 


	2. chapter 2

"That was horrid!" Lily shuddered.

"Tell me about it," James replied.

Lily and James had finally got to their common room without running into any more entwined teachers and were getting ready to go to bed.

"You know what would have been worse?" Lily asked whilst brushing her long hair.

"What?" James asked with a laugh.

"Slughorn and Professor Binns!" Lily joked as James pretended to retch.

He went into the bathroom and emerged five minutes later with white toothpaste around his mouth. Lily just laughed. The pair said their goodbyes and went into their rooms.

When Lily awoke the next morning, the sun was shining through her window. She hoped what she and James had encountered last night had just been a bad dream. She rose from her bed and began to get dressed. When she reached the Heads' common room she noticed James was already up and dressed.

"Hey, we could use that information we 'witnessed' last night to our advantage, you know?" James suggested, his Marauders' smirk firmly in place.

Lily groaned. That meant it hadn't been a bad dream but had really happened. The pair made their way to the Gryffindor common room to meet their mates. As today was Saturday, James, Sirius, and Remus had planned to go down to Hogsmeade. James asked his two best friends if Lily and her friends could come also. Remus and Sirius didn't seem to mind, so James walked up to Lily and began to speak whilst Lily rolled her eyes.

"Lily, would you like to go-" James began once again, whilst Lily had the gut feeling she was having dŽj‰ vu.

"James, if you're going to ask me out AGAIN, then stop right now,"

Lily muttered, emphasising the word "again".

"Actually, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me, Sirius, and Remus," James finished.

"Well, I did arrange to go out with Lacey and Coral," Lily replied, sounding sorry.

"Who?" James asked, looking utterly confused.

"My best friends," Lily stated.

"Well, they can come too," James said simply. Lily agreed to invite them along.

Later, as the group walked to Hogsmeade, James pulled Lily back.

"So what are we going to do about what we saw last night?" he giggled.

James giggles? Who would have known? Lily thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "Nothing, James. It's none of our business what the teachers get up to," and she walked off.

James followed. When they finally reached Hogsmeade, James and Sirius headed straight for Zonko's Joke Shop while Remus, Lily, Lacey, and Coral went to Flourish and Blotts. Both groups had arranged to meet at the Three Broomsticks after they had bought all they needed-or wanted, in most cases.

As it happened, that was about a hour after they reached the village. Lily, Remus, Sirius, Coral, and Lacey went to find a table, while James went to get the drinks. When he got back to the table he found Sirius with his head in a book. James squealed almost like a girl at the sight.

"Sirius, what in blazes are you doing?" he asked with a hurt expression on his face.

"Reading. Lily showed me this book and it looked interesting, so I began reading it. Here, take a look. It's really funny," Sirius replied.

"Oh, cool. Wicked. This book is the best," James said when Sirius showed him the book. Lily looked rather surprised that James actually liked the book. What she didn't know was that in front of the pages was a comic book, which was what James and Sirius had really been reading. When they finally closed the book, the rest drank their butterbeers and decided they would look at what everyone had bought.

Sirius and James shown the rest their loot, which consisted mainly of Dungbombs, stink pellets, and a Muggle invention called a yo-yo.

"What would you two want with a yo-yo?" asked Lily.

"Do you even know what to do with it?" Remus asked, looking quite amused.

"Yeah. When you hold it up here, the shiny thing's at the top and the string's at the bottom, but when you hold it like this, the string's at the top and the shiny thing's at the bottom," Sirus and James said almost in unison, as though they had planned their little speech.

Lily stood up and began to demonstrate what one actually did with a yo-yo. The only problem was that once she started, Sirius wouldn't let her stop. She began to show them the tricks she had learnt when she was younger. Soon James and Sirius wanted to be taught how to do them. Lily began to help them whilst Remus went to get more drinks. When he came back, he continued his conversations with Lacey and Coral.

When Lily had finished with the yo-yo, it was her turn to show what she had bought. She went to her chair and pulled a rather big bag up onto the table. She pulled out two books, Extreme Potions for the Expert and How to Become an Advanced Potion Maker in 12 Easy Lessons.

"Lily, why do you need those? You're, like, the best at Potions already," James commented, making Lily go red in the face. "So, Remus, what did you buy?"

"Oh, me? I brought a book on DADA and a book to help with my 'furry little problem'," Remus told them.

"What 'furry little problem'?" asked Coral, who seemed rather intrigued.

"Well, er-you see-" Remus stuttered.

"He has this dog, and it doesn't seem to be able to listen when you tell it not to bite," James told her, giving Sirius a menacing look. Luckily no one noticed this except Sirius.

"Well, I for one know 'it' said sorry afterwards," Sirus snarled.

Everyone who understood what the boys were referring to laughed at this, then laughed even harder when they saw the quizzical look on Sirius' face.

Coral and Lacey hadn't bought anything from the shops. Soon everyone decided it was time to go back to school. When they reached Hogwarts they all went up to the Gryffindor common room. About ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall entered.

"James, Lily, I'd like a word with you both, if you please." It was more of a demand than a request.

James and Lily both stood and smirked at each other, then followed McGonagall to her office. McGonagall wasted no time beating about the bush.

"I know that what you saw last night could have been a bit embarrassing for you, never mind me and Albu-I mean, Professor Dumbledore. I'd like your word that you'll never mention this," McGonagall pleaded.

"Well, that depends on what you're goin-OUCH! Lily, what was that for?" James asked whilst hopping around clutching his foot. "Why the heck did you stand on my toe?" he asked again.

"Of course we won't say anything, Professor," Lily said with a smile. As soon as they had left McGonagall's room, James asked his question again.

"I stood on your toes because you were about to bribe a teacher," Lily said, as though this was obvious.

They continued walking down to the common room. When they entered everyone asked them what McGonagall had wanted with them.

"She just wanted to go over some Head Boy and Girl things, that's all," Lily lied smoothly, and everyone relaxed.

It started to get late, so James and Lily said goodbye to their friends and set off to their dorms. Lily took a shower, and so did James-the Heads each had their own bathrooms-then began to get ready for their nightly rounds. This time they vowed to stay away from broom closets! 


	3. Chapter 3

The Head Boy and Girl returned to their dorms; they did as promised and stayed away from any broom closets, and began to get ready for bed. James brushed his teeth whilst Lily showered, then they swapped roles. By around twelve-thirty in the morning they had finished and were climbing under their blankets.

Lily awoke with a start at nine-thirty on Sunday morning. Quickly she pulled herself away from her inviting bed, grabbed her wand, and silently crept into the common room. She looked around and saw there was no one there. She was just about to turn around and go back to bed when she heard a scream from James' room. She ran to his door and listened carefully. There was another piercing scream, then all went silent.

Lily wondered whether she should go into James' room or not, but she knew if anything happened to James she would never forgive herself. She soundlessly opened the door and peered in. James was there, thrashing around on his bed. Lily, unsure of what to do, quickly ran out of the dorm to the Gryffindor common room. She was relieved to see Sirius and Remus awake and sitting by the fire.

"James...is...in...trouble...needs...your...help," Lily managed to stutter whilst she gained her breath.

"What's new there?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "What kind of trouble?"

"I don't know. It looks as if he's having a really bad nightmare. He's thrashing around and screaming," Lily muttered.

"A really girlie, ear-piercing scream?" asked Remus, exchanging a worried glance with Sirius.

"Yes, how did you know?" Lily asked. Before she'd even finished saying the words, both boys had fled the room. "Wait!" she cried, and hurried after them.

Lily gave the portrait the password to allow the boys to enter the Heads' common room. Remus and Sirius ran to waken James. Lily paced back and forth before the fireplace in the common room, awaiting results. Sirius finally reappeared in James' doorway.

"Go and run a cold bath, please, Lily. He's awake," Sirius told her.

She went quickly to the bathroom and started filling the bath with cold water. In a few minutes, Remus and Sirius struggled in, carrying James and ignoring his pleas to not throw him in the cold water. They flung him in and held him under for several seconds, ignoring both his and Lily's protests. When James came up, he assured everyone he was better and climbed out of the bath in his now soaking wet pajamas. He went to get dried off and dressed, leaving Sirius, Remus, and Lily in the bathroom.

"What was all that about?" Lily asked, baffled and slightly worried.

"We can't tell you," Remus said with what sounded like sorrow in his voice. Sirius stood and nodded.

"Yeah, Remus is right. We'll have to let James tell you that-if he wants to, that is!" Sirius added.

Remus and Sirius left, and Lily decided she would ask James what had happened-after he had calmed down, that is.

Lily proceeded to get ready for breakfast; she brushed her long, red hair and her teeth at the same time, then went to her room to dress. When she came out, James was sitting on the sofa. He looked sad, and there was no twinkle left in his eyes. She realised she really did feel sorry for him.

"James...about before, what was going on?" she whispered.

"Nothing, Lily. Honest. I just have a bit of-well, I don't know how to describe it. It's like a nightmare but also like a look into the future," James tried to explain.

Lily sat as if waiting to hear more. James sighed, then carried on.

"I see myself, my wife, and our kid locked away in a house. This evil person is looking for us, and when he finally does find us he kills me, then turns on my wife and child. He gives her a chance, saying he only wants Henry-I think that was the name-and she can go, but she won't. She sacrifices herself to save Henry. It only ever goes this far before I wake up," James stammered. He looked at his hands, then up at Lily. "How did you know what happened this morning, anyway?" he asked in a more confident voice.

"Well, I found you, then I went to get Remus and Sirius, then I had to run the cold bath. So I gathered something was up," Lily said simply.

James just smiled. He knew Lily cared for him, and he cared for her.

A bit later, James walked into the Great Hall and slid onto the bench between Sirius and Remus at the Gryffindor table.

"James, I really think you should speak to Dumbledore about your dreams. They aren't healthy," Remus told him.

"It's okay. I think it's more of a nightmare than really seeing the future," James reassured his friends.

They looked up just as Dumbledore clapped his hands. Lily entered the Great Hall and sat near the Marauders and aimed a cheery good-morning wave at Dumbledore, whereupon Dumbledore turned an interesting shade of red. McGonagall must have noticed, for she pulled Dumbledore back into his seat and whispered into his ear. Whatever she told him seemed to cause Dumbledore to relax.

"Does anyone wish to make any announcements before we begin breakfast?" Dumbledore's cool voice echoed through the room.

James and Lily looked at each other, then stood up.

"Oh, well, come on up, then, you two." Dumbledore's voice had a trace of amusement in it. McGonagall's face was a mixture of worry, fear, and fury.

James and Lily walked up to the Staff Table and whispered to Dumbledore, who nodded.

"Well, James and I had an idea," Lily said. "It's nearly Christmas, so we thought a Yule Ball was in order." Everyone cheered at this, even some of the teachers.

McGonagall's face relaxed greatly when James continued.

"We'll be leaving leaflets in all the House common rooms with the details. Until then, that's it from us," James concluded.

The Heads walked back to their table just as the food appeared. There was a sudden squeak, and Peter Pettigrew ran into the Hall.

"Peter, where have you been the last few chapters-uh, I mean days?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Oh, well, I've been busy. I was away from Hogwarts with a family problem. I have to go right back, today. I won't be returning to school this year," Peter stammered.

"What about your exams?" Lily asked.

"They're being sent to me," Peter told his friends.

And with that astonishing pronouncement, he took his leave. 


	4. Chapter 4

Lily began to work on the leaflet for the Yule Ball. So far it readI

Hogwarts is proud to present:The Yule Ball Who for: All Dress code: Dress robes Time: 5 p.m. to midnight Where: Great Hall For more information on the Yule Ball, please contact a Prefect or Head Student

Lily was rather pleased with her work. She picked up the leaflet and waved her wand. Four more copies appeared. James walked in and smiled at Lily, and she smiled back happily.

"Let's see what you've done, then," James said interestedly, and Lily passed him the piece of paper. "That's really good, Lily. We'll have to give them out at our next Prefect meeting."

"Well, I don't think it's ready yet. We didn't really explain enough-did we?" Lily asked.

"Sure. It has all the information you need-and what do you mean, 'we' haven't done enough?" James asked, pretending to be offended, whilst Lily smiled.

Lily picked up her bag and left; she had promised Coral and Lacey she would meet them. James left also, having arranged to meet his friends.

Tonight was a full moon. Not many people knew Remus was a werewolf, including Lily; those who did know kept quiet. Remus looked really rough tonight, James thought. His hair was turning prematurely grey, and his clothes looked too big for him. He cast periodic anxious glances out of the window, waiting in dread for the moon to rise.

Lily and her mates were in mid-discussion when Coral suddenly piped up, "So, Lils, what's been going on with you and James?" A teasing smile played around her lips.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, immediately turning a deep shade of red.

"Well, you know, you share a dorm with him. I mean, you must have walked in on him in the shower at some time, or the other way round," Lacey hinted with the same grin Sirius used.

"No, ewww, never!" Lily shivered. Her friends laughed. The time flew by; soon it was closing in on eight o' clock.

"Oh, my god. I haven't had my lunch. Nooo, I promised myself I'd never miss a meal-I never have for six years, and I nearly just did! Oh, god. Why, why me?" Sirius exclaimed.

Lily, Coral, Remus, Lacey and James looked at him askance, as if to say, "Get a grip!"

The group of friends walked down to the Great Hall and sat in their usual places at the Gryffindor table. When Dumbledore finished his announcements, the food apeared on the gleaming gold plates in front of them. Sirius dived in, muttering something that sounded like "Must eat double, missed lunch." The others just laughed.

After they had finished their dinner, James and Lily went back to their dorms whilst their friends returned to the Gryffindor common room.

"Lily, I won't be able to do rounds tonight. Me and-well, let's just say I have something planned for tonight," James told Lily.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later, then," Lily said, disappointed, and went off to do her rounds alone.

James ran back to the Gryffindor common room and beckoned to Remus and Sirius. The three of them squeezed close together under the Invisibility Cloak, and the words, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," were heard. Moving quietly through the deserted halls, the trio exited the castle and, hidden in the shadows, pulled the cloak off. James and Sirius blinked, and then, before anything else could take place, had transformed into a big, black, woolly dog and a beautiful, gleaming white stag. James, of course, was the stag, Prongs; and Sirius, or Padfoot as he was dubbed in his animal form, the dog.

They followed close behind Remus as he walked to the Whomping Willow. He looked up to see that the moon was full and rising rapidly. The three of them broke into a run. When they reached the Willow, Sirius crept up to the trunk on his belly, staying as low as he could, and pressed a paw to a particular knothole on the lower trunk. The tree, which a moment before had been flailing its branches in agitation at the intruders, froze, and an opening, barely big enough for Prongs to fit into, appeared among its giant roots. Remus entered quickly, followed by Prongs, then Padfoot.

Lily was walking aimlessly around Hogwarts deserted corridors when she heard a scream ascending from the grounds.

That sounded like Remus, she thought in alarm. Without hesitation, she ran from the castle and out into the misty grounds. The scream came again-louder this time, the very essence of mortal agony. Lily looked around and suddenly noticed that the Whomping Willow wasvery still-unnaturally so, in fact. Silently she crept over to the tree and looked, astonished, at the opening among the roots. She entered fearlessly, wondering where it led.

After about five minutes of crawling through dirt and dangling roots, Lily heard the scream yet again. She was able to stand now and moved a bit faster. After a few moments she came to a wooden door that stood open. She looked in and almost screamed, for there in the corner was a fully fledged werewolf. Then she noticed a black dog and a white stag that sat nearby, which seemed reassuring. She let out a relieved sigh. But it was too soon for relief; the werewolf turned his had slowly to look at Lily, and then got to his feet and, hackles raised, advanced on her slowly. The dog dived at the wolf and appeared to be attempting to hold it back. But it didn't work; the wolf's lcaws were scrabbling on the dusty plank floor as it struggled to get past. Lily was becoming increasingly scared. When it seemed as if the dog would no longer be able to hold the wolf back, it looked at the stag and both of them nodded. In the blink of an eye, they re-transformed into their human shapes, those of-Sirius and...James?

"Stupefy!" James and Sirius shouted at the wolf that was now gaining on Lily, stopping it dead in its tracks. James lunged forwards to where Lily had just that second fainted. He began to shake her, one eye on the wolf. When shaking had no result, he reluctantly decided to take her to the Hospital Wing. He conjured up a stretcher and levitated her onto it, then guided the stretcher through a secret passage into the school and up to the Hospital Wing.

"Merlin's beard, what happened to the poor girl?" Madame Pomfrey asked, bustling over at once.

"Well, Sirius and I saw her go toward the Whomping Willow and remembered that was where Remus was." James was cut off by a gasp from the Matron.

James placed Lily on the bed, where she awoke. She kept her eyes closed and gave no sigh, however, in case there was a chance she could overhear what had happened to her.

"So, like I said," James continued, "we saw her go to the Whomping Willow, and we followed her. By the time Sirius and I got in there, Remus was in his wolf form and was gaining on Lily. We Stupefied him, and then Lily fainted, so I brought her here," he finished.

Lily let out a gasp, signaling she was awake. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to her with a vial containing a thick, green potion.

"Actually, Madam Pomfrey, I really have to leave now," Lily smiled, and walked out with James behind her. She waited until they had reached their common room and James had shut the door behind him, thinking how smoothly that had all gone, all things considered, and then she whirled around to face him. He backed up a step, startled by this flashing-eyed, angry Lily who stood before him.

"All right, James Potter, I want to know exactly what's going on here," she said, poking him in the chest. "What-exactly-happened to me tonight?" As he started to shrug nonchalantly, she poked him again. "And don't leave anything out, do you hear? I want to know everything. Everything," she said, pointing at him warningly. He cringed, wondering if she was going to poke him again, but instead she folded her arms and tapped one toe impatiently.

"Well, I can't say what happened until you tell me what you saw," he said uneasily.

She studied him for a moment, then her gaze focused inward as she remembered. "I heard a scream, and I thought it sounded like Remus," she said slowly, as if just now realizing how odd that seemed. "So I ran out into the grounds. The next time I heard the scream, it came from a hole in the bottom of the Whomping Willow. So I went in, and when I got to the end of a tunnel I saw a wolf, a dog, and a white stag." James groaned, and she looked at him in wonder. "It was you," she said wonderingly. "You and Sirius." Suddenly comprehension showed in her eyes. "That means the wolf-oh, James, no! Was it-" She couldn't finish, just stared at him with wide eyes.

"All right," James said reluctantly. "Yes, the white stag was me, the black dog was Sirius, and the wolf...was Remus. When he was young he was bit by a wolf, so ever since then he's transformed into a werewolf at every full moon. When Sirius, Peter, and I found out, we taught ourselves to become Animagi; Peter's animal form is a rat. You see, that way we could safely stay with him during his transformations. It's kind of served two purposes-to make sure no one crosses his path and gets hurt, and also to keep him company. No one should have to go through that alone."

He glanced at Lily. The expression on her face had completely changed. Now her features showed a peculiar mix of shock, horror, and compassion. "I never realized," she breathed.

"No, well, you weren't supposed to. Only a few people know, and only because they have to," James said adamantly. "Lucy, promise you'll never tell. It-it'd be awful if this got out. You know how people treat werewolves. His life wouldn't be worth anything, you know that." He looked at her, his eyes pleading.

She looked back at him, and suddenly she smiled. "James," she said gently, "Remus is my friend, too. I hope you know me well enough by now to know I would never give away a friend's secret." She grinned. "Although I might be persuaded to tell Coral what I saw that time I accidentally walked in on you when you were taking a shower. She does seem awfully interested in knowing all about you, James."

James blanched, and Lily giggled. "Good night, James," she said softly. She went into her room and shut the door. It was several minutes before James was able to close his mouth and collect himself sufficiently to seek out his own bed. 


	5. Chapter 5

Lily woke up, wondering whether last night had been a dream. She went through her dorm to the common room and saw James.

"Hey, you okay?"he asked worriedly.

"Yes, but never mind me. What about you?"Lily returned.

"Me? I'm used to this. I'm more concerned about you. Oh yeah, Remus asked me to ask you whether you can meet him in the Hospital Wing when you get up," James said quietly.

Awww, James is so sweet, she thought-and immediately on the heels of that, Where the hell did that come from?

"Of course." Lily nodded and gathered her books. Today was Monday and she had a hour before lessons began, so she decided to visit Remus first. As she entered the Hospital Wing, Remus smiled from his bed and gestered for her to come over. When she reached him, Madam Pomfrey closed the curtains around them, muttering something along the lines of, "So no one else finds out."

"Lily," Remus said with a tired smile. "Thank you for coming. I'm terribly sorry for what happened last night. When Sirius told me what had happened, I knew I had to stay out of James' way." He chuckled weakly.

"Is that why you're here?" Lily asked in astonishment, feeling the beginnings of anger. "Did James put you in here?"

"No, no. I always have to come in here after a full moon, as I'm too weak to do much else." Remus managed to smile.

"So what happened last night? How did I get away?" Lily asked, since parts of the previous night were still just a big blank spot in her mind.

"From what Sirius tells me, James saved you. He also threated me this morning." Remus laughed again.

"He did what? I'll kill him," Lily growled, just as James entered.

"Kill who? Oh, please, let it be a Slytherin," James joked.

"No, I'm going to kill you for threatening poor Remus here," Lily said, his callous attitude fueling her anger.

"Yeah, about that look on your face right now-I think I may just leave now. Last time this happened and I stuck around, I had a handprint on my cheek for about two weeks,"James said in all seriousness. Remus chuckled at the memory, and Lily grew red. While she was still sputtering, James fled.

After a few more minutes Lily was shooed away from the Hospital Wing by Madam Pomfrey. Out in the hallway, she paused to checked her timetable. She had Defence Against the Dark Arts first, with Professor Merrythought.

Lily was one of the first to line up outside the classroom. After a few minutes she was joined by James and Sirius. When Sirius saw her, he whispered something to James.

"Yeah, she knows," James whispered back. "How could she not, when we turned back right in front of her?" he asked his sceptical friend.

Sirius went over and whispered something to Lily, and she nodded and replied to him, "Sirius, don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone."

When Lily turned around, the door swung open and their teacher walked out with a note in his hand. He motioned for the class to come in and take out their wands. James and Sirius loved practicals; this meant they could talk freely, without the all-too-likely chance of being overheard.

James and Lily took their usual seats-Lily as far as possible from James, and James edging closer to Lily. Today, however, Sirius didn't sit with James; he sat with Lily. Sirius was in the middle of a conversation with her when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw James inch his desk closer to them. With an idle flick of Sirius' wand, James flew backwards into Professor Merrythought.

"Oof, sorry, Professor. I didn't mean to bump into you. I-erm, I-fell. Yeah, that's it. I fell," James stammered, whilst giving Sirius a dirty look.

"That's quite all right, young man. Please take your seat now," Professor Merrythought said cheerfully.

Lily and Sirius carried on with their conversation.

"So do you know if Lacey has a date yet for the Yule Ball?" Sirius asked.

"No, not yet she doesn't. Why-are you going to ask her?" Lily said playfully, watching Sirius turn red.

"Maybe." Sirius stuck his tongue out but soon realized his error. Lily waved her wand casually, and he found he couldn't put his tongue back in. He eyed her reproachfully.

"Whot thoz thfat thour?" he asked.

"Sorry, Sirius, didn't quite catch that last part," Lily teased. "Anyway, don't worry. It'll wear off in a few minutes."

"Thow," Sirius tried again.

Lily and James laughed, and Lily mouthed "Mooo" at Sirius-then turned in her seat, startled to see James so close. "Hang on, when did you get there?" she asked suspiciously.

"When you were busy attacking Sirius," James replied.

The lesson went rather quickly, and Sirius' tongue was once more securely in his mouth when the bell rang. Their next class was double Potions.

"Oh, kill me now. Please, James, get it over and done with. It has to be less painful than listening to Slughorn," Sirius begged.

"All right. Avada ke-" James began.

"JAMES-I don't know your middle name-POTTER, DON'T YOU DARE!" Lily snapped.

"Oh, okay,"James sighed. Sirius actually looked rather disappointed.

Once inside the dungeon that served as the Potions classroom, Lily, James, and Sirius walked to the back row and sat down. Sirius smiled when he saw James whisper to Lily.

"When should we start work on organising the Yule ball?" James inquired.

"In a few days, I think," Lily answered back.

"Quiet down now, class. Today you will be making a Calming draft, as Madam Pomfrey is running low. The instructions are on the board; off you go, now," Professor Slughorn boomed. Lily went to fetch three lots of ingredients from the stores cupboard. Sirius used the time while she was gone to tell James about his plan for asking Lacey out. James agreed this was a good idea.

Lily returned and they began to work on the potion. Professor Slughorn walked around the room, looking at everyone's progress. Everyone had managed to brew the simple potion correctly, and there was still an hour of class remaining when James, Sirius, and Lily finished theirs.

"Sir, we've finished," James shouted over the babble of the class.

"Good, good, excellent," Slughorn beamed. "Well, in that case, turn in your vial of potion, and then you may go back to your common room."

When the three got back to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius shared his idea about using this time to arrange a few ideas for the ball. They all agreed, and sat down at the table to put their heads together.

By the time the bell went for break, they had decided what to do with the Great Hall and had decided to hire a band. James had persuaded Lily to put mistletoe in the Hall among the other decorations.

During break all three of them went to visit Remus in the Hospital Wing. He looked like he was getting better; Madam Pomfrey kept fussing around him and giving him potions. Remus still looked rather sheepish when he caught sight of Lily, until she assured him it was all right and she knew he hadn't been in his "right mind".

Just before the bell went to signal they were supposed to be in class, Lily remembered she had left her homework up in the common room, so she and James ran back up for it. On the way back down, Peeves found them and decided it would be fun to throw things at Lily. Lily jumped back and grabbed James' hand. James, enjoying this novel turn of events, somehow forgot to mention that she still had hold of his hand until Sirius said, "Hey, are you sure you really just went to get your homework?"

Lily looked down to where Sirius was staring and gasped. James' hand felt so natural in hers that she hadn't even noticed she was still holding it. 


	6. Chapter 6

Clare Garlick ch.6

The Christmas holidays had just begun and Lily had a weird feeling in her stomach, one she had never yet experienced. It was mainly every time she was around James. She hadn't told anyone of this yet. It had started yesterday when she grabbed his hand in an attempt to dodge Peeves. Lily was in the middle of a daydream.

"Lily, come on. We have to decorate the Great Hall. It's Christmas Eve in a few days." James' voice broke through the daydream, bringing Lily back to reality with a thud.

They walked to the Great Hall together. When they entered, they saw ladders everywhere and all sorts of decorations to hang up, including mistletoe, much to James' delight. Lily began to climb up the ladder whilst James passed things up to her. At the worst possible moment, just as Lily was leaning off the ladder to attach the third banner, Peeves swooped through the Hall.

"Lily, look out!" James shouted, but he was too late. Lily teetered for a moment, and then fell off the ladder, landing on James with a thud. Sirius and Remus ran into the Hall and looked around, seeming disappointed to see James and Lily on the floor.

"Well, this isn't right," Said Lily, remaining where she was.

"Yes, it is. You haven't moved from that spot for about two minutes," Sirius smirked, and went to stick his tongue out but thought better of it.

Lily jumped up, turning crimson. James smirked.

"See, Remus? I told you it was a good idea to get Peeves involved. We should have paid him to do this ages ago," Sirius laughed. But when he saw the look on James' face, he wiped the smile off straightaway.

"You did WHAT? You paid Peeves to push Lily off the ladder? Did it not occur to you how dangerous that is? You could have seriously hurt her. You lot are the worst friends ever." James looked like he was going to burst into tears.

Sirius and Remus looked taken aback by his vehemence. "James, chill. We knew you'd catch her. The amount you bang on about her, people are going to think you'd sacrifice yourself to save her," Sirius responded.

"Well, yeah, I would," James said automatically. "I don't want her to get hurt; obviously I'd sacrifice myself for her." As he realized what he had just said, it was his turn to go red. "THAT'S NOT THE POINT," he thundered, while looking rather embarrassed. "STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT!"

Sirius and Remus decided this was a good time to run.

"COME BACK, YOU COWARDS!" James shouted after them, waving his hands frantically.

"James, leave it. Come on, let's carry on with the decorating. Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and we still have loads to do," Lily urged.

Lily had got that same funny feeling again when she had fallen and subsequently heard James say he would sacrifice himself for her. But she decided those thoughts, interesting as they were, would have to wait for later. As they finished decorating the room they didn't talk about anything more serious than where the mistletoe should go (in the end they decided to hang bunches in the four corners of the room, as well as one large bunch in the centre) and how much tinsel should be added to the Hall (they decided to use all that had been provided). When they had finished, they stood back and admired their work.

"That's not too bad, to be honest," James said, sounding satisfied.

"Yeah, it actually looks pretty nice," Lily said, rather amazed to find herself in agreement with him.

"Do you have anyone to go to the Yule Ball with?" James asked casually, although he couldn't quite keep the hopeful note out of his voice.

"No, you?" Lily answered.

"Nope. Will you go with me?' he whispered, dreading the answer.

"Yeah, sure I will. I'd really enjoy that," she had answered before she even realised what she was saying.

By that night James had forgot about his argument with Sirius and Remus, much to their relief, and told them about Lily agreeing to go to the Yule Ball with him.

"See? I knew it was a good idea to pa-" he began, but he never got to finish. A sharp blow to his shin from Remus just then caused him to double over in pain.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?" he cried. "You are a total smeghead, do you know that?" Sirius steamed.

Remus glared at him. "Don't make me bite you," he threatened.

Lily spotted her mates over in the corner of the common room and hurried over to tell them the news about the Yule Ball. Then she told them about James asking her to the Ball and her accepting. She asked whether they had dates, and they admitted that so far they hadn't; there followed a discussion of who they hoped would ask them. Much to their horror, Lily proved to be a woman of action, promptly going up to the two people her friends most hoped would ask them to the Ball-Remus and Sirius.

"Sirius, Remus, can I have a word, please?" Lily asked sweetly, ignoring Coral and Lacey who, amid much giggling, were frantically mouthing the word "No!" in the background.

Remus and Sirius exchanged worried glances with each other, obviously wondering what they'd done wrong now, and followed Lily.

"Do either of you have dates for the Yule Ball?" Lily asked them.

"No," they answered.

"Well, would you like to go to the Yule Ball with Lacey, Sirius? and, Remus, would you go with Coral?" she asked .

Relieved that they had misjudged her reason for wanting to speak with them, the boys agreed quickly. "Yeah, sure," they both answered.

Lily thanked them sedately, then turned and pelted back to her friends with the good news. Coral and Lacy giggled some more, and much whispering ensued amid glances at Sirius and Remus. The boys went back to James with big smiles plastered onto their faces and refused to tell him what Lily had wanted.

Soon afterward, Lily and James headed back to their dorms for a shower and to get ready to go on their rounds. Lily was the first to be ready; she dried her hair and tied it back in a bun, then put her robes on over her night wear. James walked into the common room a few minutes later and slipped his robe over his night wear also, and went to knock on Lily's bedroom door to fetch her.

As they walked around the school that night on their rounds, decorating still on their mind, they decided to add Yule banners to some of the corridors and the main entrance. After they had done this, the rest of their rounds seemed dull, mundane, and they quickly grew bored. Looking at his watch, James saw it was just going on for twelve, so they began to walk back to the Heads' dorm.

Suddenly James pushed Lily against a wall, taking her utterly by surprise, and signaled for her to be quiet. They could hear Dumbledore's calm voice carrying through the corridor and McGonagall's brisk voice replying; the only down-side was that they couldn't hear what the two professors were saying. After the voices had disappeared, Lily and James made their way back to their dorm and slipped their robes off to reveal Lily's light pink pajamas and James' blue ones. They sat on the sofa thinking to discuss the evening, and that's all they remembered, because they both fell asleep almost at once. 


	7. Chapter 7

James stretched his long fingers in the air and smiled. He looked down to see a mass of red hair next to him-then looked, startled, at his suroundings. Then it dawned on him-he had fallen asleep on the couch with Lily. Gently he pushed her away, then proceeded to the bathroom. Tonight was Christmas Eve and they had a lot of work to do. When Lily finally woken up and got dressed, they went down to the Great Hall hoping they were still in time for breakfast.

Luckily they managed to arrive just in time. After they had eaten, Dumbledore stood up and waved them up to the Staff Table. Glancing at each other, they walked forward cautiously and stood in front of their Headmaster.

"I take it everything is prepared for tonight?" Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes, sir. We have the decorations done, as you can see, and we have the buffet prepared-well, no, the house-elves did that-and we've booked the band...James, we forgot to book the band! Oh, dear." Lily sounded frantic.

"Lily, I know how much stress you've been under lately, so I-er-took the liberty of doing that myself. I do hope you're not offended," Dumbledore chuckled.

"Of course not! You've just saved us from having to rush round at the last minute. We're more than grateful," James replied with a cheeky smile.

"In that case, you may return to your seats," Dumbledore motioned.

Lily and James looked at each other, then walked back to their seats. When they got back they noticed that Coral and Remus were whispering together, and so were Lacey and Sirius.

I sure hope she hasn't told anyone about the shower incident, James found himself thinking.

Lily patted the seat next to her and James sat down. Coral and Lacey gave their best friend a rather strange look and then stood up to leave, Remus and Sirius following in their wake.

Lily, mystified, looked at James inquiringly, but he just shrugged his shoulders, yawning, and said, "Lily, I think we should go back to the common room and run over some plans."

"Okay, then, come on." Lily streched like James had done earlier that morning and stood up, pulling James along with her.

They went back to the Heads' common room and sat on the sofa. James cracked his neck, making Lily shiver. She hated it when people did that. James produced a piece of parchment from inside his robes and began reading it aloud to Lily.

"Band?" he asked first.

"Check," Lily replied. Over the next several items she had got so used to saying this that she wasn't actually listening. James continued listing items for a couple of minute, finishing with, "Agreeing to go out with James and marry him one day?"

"Check," Lily said automatically. James said nothing but just sat looking at her with a smug look on his face. As soon as she realised just what he had said, she turned bright red, and James laughed. Lily dived the length of the sofa and pummelled him until he fell onto the floor. She followed him down and proceeded to tickle him mercilessly.

It was this scene that Remus walked in on just at that moment. James and Lily were oblivious to his entrance. He cleared his throat loudly, and their heads whipped round in surprise.

"Listen, you two, tonight we have-um, maybe I should come back later," Remus said, not bothering to hide his laughter.

"No, Remus, help me. Please, I beg you. She's going to kill me," James spluttered.

Lily stopped tickling James and fell off him, laughing breathlessly. Before she could recover, James picked her up and threw her onto the sofa and then ran to his room, placing every locking spell he knew on the door. Remus rolled his eyes and quietly slipped out.

After ten minutes of trying to get into James' room, Lily gave up.

"You'll have to come out sometime, James Potter, or you won't get any food," she shouted through the keyhole. "I'm not getting you any, and I'll ban Remus and Sirius from bringing you anything."

She smiled when, after a brief pause, she distinctly heard the word, "Damn."

Lily was looking through her closet for her dress robes when Professor McGonagall knocked on the doorway and walked in.

"Lily, where is James? He needs to hear this, as well," McGonagall said in her usual brisk manner.

"Oh, we were messing about. I began tickling him, and when I stopped he ran off and locked himself in his room." Lily smiled sweetly at her professor.

McGonagall left and Lily could hear her knocking on James' door. "Potter, get out here this instant," McGonagall barked.

The bedroom door creaked open and James came out. He gave Lily a dirty look.

"What can I do for you, Minnie?" he asked cheekly.

"It's Professor to you, young man," McGonagall snapped, although Lily was sure she saw her lips twitch.

Lily and James listened as McGonagall told them it was traditional for the Head Boy and Girl to lead the first dance in the middle of the Hall. This didn't seem to faze James one bit. It did Lily, however, as she remembered having placed mistletoe there.When McGonagall left, James looked at Lily and said, "I suppose you need to start getting ready, then?"

"No-it isn't even midday yet. It doesn't take me six hours to get ready, you know," she said, rather puzzled as to why James would mention it.

As lunchtime approached, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Coral, and Lacey headed to the Great Hall. Lily huffed at James and Sirius when they piled their plates up with mashed potato and began throwing it at one another.

At one-thirty they left the Hall and walked along the corridors to the Heads' dorms. Lily gave the password and entered, and the rest trudged in behind. They sat in front of the fire and there was talk of getting ready for the Ball. At half two, the girls decided it was time for them to start preparing. James, who refused to leave the common room, was escorted out by Sirius and Remus whilst the girls laughed.

After about five minutes of being over Sirius' shoulder, James demanded to get down. Sirius, who didn't usually listen to orders, took the instructions literally and dropped James straight from his shoulders to the floor. James lay on the ground snarling at Remus and Sirius, who were now laughing so hard that they, too, dropped helplessly to the floor, rolling around and holding their sides. Some first years that walked past gave the trio some decided peculiar looks and edged past them cautiously.

Meanwhile, back in the Heads' dorm, the girls had had their showers and were taking it in turns to do each other's hair. Coral did Lily's in a French braid twirled around into a bun. Coral had her hair in a high ponytail, courtesy of Lacey; and Lily was busy curling Lacey's hair using her wand.

"Do you think the boys are ready?" Lily asked, twirling Lacey's hair around her steaming wand.

"Oh, I hope not. We still have loads to do yet!" Coral squealed.

When Lily had finished putting the final touches to Lacey's hair, she got up and walked over to the three sets of dress robes laid out on the bed. Lily was wearing light green to compliment her hair, Lacey's robes were dark blue, and Coral was wearing a light pink colour.

Lily began to iron the robes whilst Coral and Lacey did their makeup.When Lily finally finished ironing, Lacey and Coral got dressed and Lily put her makeup on. Then she slipped into her dress robes. Coral and Lacey gasped.

"You look lovely! I'm sure James will be pleased," they both said almost at once.

Lily smiled and thanked her best friends, and complimented their outfits, which really suited them, in turn.

With a final nervous pat to hair and robes, the three girls left the dorm and went to find their dates. 


	8. Chapter 8

James emerged from Gryffindor common room in a long

black dress robe, accompanied by Sirius in grey robes-no one could deny that

they went well with his eyes-and Remus in blue robes.

The three boys were

on their way to the Heads' dorms to get the girls, unaware that the girls

had had the same idea-exept they had gone to Gryffindor common room. The

three girls were just around the corner from the boys, unbeknownst to them

all, and all headed for the corner at top speed. When they finally rounded

the corner, one could safely say their meeting went with a bang.

The girls

jumped up from the floor first and began berating the boys, who were

cowering just a bit, for their clumsiness.

"To be honest," Sirius pointed

out, "you did walk into us as well. So does that mean what you say to us

will be taken to heart by yourselves as well?" Sirius asked, but from the

look on Lily's face he knew the comment was not particularly

appreciated.

Lily shot looks as sharp as daggers at him, but she didn't

argue, much to Sirius approval.

James, noticing the heavy atmosphere, piped

up. "Hey, shall we go to the Hall, then?"

"Yeah, come on," Lily replied,

not taking her eyes off Sirius.

"Sirius, stop ogling my girlfr-my date,"

James glared.

"Oh, as if I'd ogle her! Not when I have my beautiful Lacey.

Anyway, Lily started it by staring at me," Sirius snapped whilst putting his

arm around Lacey. Like Lily, his eyes wavered.

When Lily and Sirius finally

ended their silent war, the three couples went down to the Great Hall. They

were amazed to see the difference; it hadn't looked like this even with the

decorations up. Things seemed to glint more, and the four large House tables

had been replaced by a multitude of smaller round tables, each with seating

for six people.

The six friends chose a table toward the back near a

platform that Coral thought must be where the band were to perform. Groups

of people began appearing and making their way to empty tables. When a

sizeable crowd had gathered, Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome, everyone. I

would like to extend our thanks to the Heads, who help prepare this event,

and to Sirius Black," Dumbledore said, a faint smile touching his lips when

he noted the look on Sirius' face. "Tonight we are all here to celebrate. It

is Christmas Eve, of course; and although the year is not yet over, nor has

it only just begun, this is the last Yule Ball our seventh year students

will spend at Hogwart, and the first of many-it is to be hoped-for the first

year students. We are always sad to see students preparing to leave us, but

excited to see new faces among our numbers."

He leaned closer, putting his

beard in imminent danger of catching fire from the candle before him.

"Before we begin the dance, I have two very important words for you all:

Tuck in!" Dumbledore clapped his hands and menus appeared in front of each

person. Those students who didn't know what to do looked at Dumbledore,

awaiting further instructions. When he said, "Lamb chops," and they appeared

on his plate, suddenly there was a buzz of excitement as students called out

"Fried chicken!" and "Steak and kidney pie!", and the places at each table

filled with various kinds of food, as ordered.

It was a jolly meal, the

staff and students alike full of holiday spirit and anticipating the

delights still to come. After all traces of dinner had been cleared away,

Dumbledore rose once more. He held up both hands and waited patiently for

the noise to die down before speaking.

"Now that we all have indulged in a

lovely holiday meal, it's time for a treat you have all eagerly awaited.

Everyone, please stand." The students rose from their benches and stood

beside the tables. With a casual wave of his hands, Dumbledore moved the

tables and benches to the outer edges of the room. He peered in the

direction of the Gryffindor table. "I should like to ask Lily Evans and

James Potter, our Head Boy and Girl, to the centre of the floor, if you

please." James and Lily, their faces pink with pleasure, proceeded into the

centre of the room and waited. But Dumbledore was not finished.

"I thought

it would be nice if we parted with tradition in one regard," he went on, a

mischievous twinkle in his eye. "We have a surprise for four additional

students. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin-"

Dumbledore was cut off in

mid-sentence by a cry from Sirius. "There is no way whatsoever that I am

dancing with Remus," he shouted, looking rather disgusted by what his

Headmaster seemed to imply.

McGonagall tsk'd, but Dumbledore merely

chuckled and continued mildly, "As I was saying, Sirius Black and Remus

Lupin will dance with the partners of their choice, along with their

friends."

Sirius looked mollified, and he and Remus joined James and Lily

on the dance floor. With oddly formal bows, each held out a hand to his

partner, and Lacey and Coral joined them. When they were in place, the music

began to play. Lily looked around for the band and saw the Weird Sisters

band emerge from behind a red curtain they hadn't noticed earlier.

James

began to dance with Lily, leading the way surprisingly gracefully around the

floor in a simple, old-fashioned waltz. Lacey took Sirius' hand and they

began to sway gently; and Remus and Coral began to waltz as well.

The song

finally ended, and James whispered something in Lily's ear that caused her

to go red.

"You have to kiss me," James had whispered, pointing up at the

mistletoe that was hung directly above them. "It's the rule."

"Well, then,

I'm saved, since everyone knows that you disregard the rules," said Lily.

Now it was James' turn to go red. Despite Lily's words, James closed his

eyes and pouted his lips hopefully. Lily looked around and saw Sirius doing

the same thing. Suddenly an impish gleam lit her eyes and she swiftly pulled

him to stand in front of James and more or less pushed them together. When

everyone started to laugh, James, wondering what had happened, opened his

eyes and looked in horror at the person he was kissing.

"Urgh, Sirius, get

away from me NOW! I always knew there was something weird about you, now

I've figured it out-you're gay." James mimed retching.

"Ha ha. Hardly. No,

I was about to kiss Lacey when I felt a tug on my arm, and-" Sirius stopped

mid-sentence and stared at Lily, who was laughing along with everyone else,

including, by now (and in spite of feeling as if they ought not to laugh),

the teachers.

"Lily, please tell me you didn't," James and Sirius both

exclaimed in horror. Still laughing, she nodded. Remus slung his arms over

his friends' shoulders and, looking at each of them in turn, said, "A trick

worthy of a Marauder, eh?" He winked at Lily.

Dumbledore, his eyes bright,

stepped in at this juncture.

"Now that James and Sirius have admitted

their true feelings for one another,", he said amid a fresh wave of

laughter, "I think it's time everyone joined in the dance. Come!"

Everyone

cheered at this. The benches emptied rapidly as all the boys stood up and

offered their hands to their dates. James and Lily began to dance once

again, but Remus, Sirius, Lacey, and Coral decided to sit out the next

dance.

"Can you dance like a hippogriff, nahnahnahnaah." The Weird Sisters

vocalist began the next song. For variety, it was a fast number and everyone

began to rave and jive to the music, many people were even banging their

heads to the beat. A few could be seen playing that famous instrument, the

air guitar. The teachers joined in gamely, causing more than a few snickers

to be muffled behind hands.

As Lily danced with James, she admitted to

herself that he did know how to have fun, and when she was with him it was

hard not to have fun herself. As James swung her around, she noticed how

many other people were having a good time, all because of her and James and

their friends. She felt really happy-she had James to dance with, they'd

given loads of people a good time, and no arguments had broken out.

When

the song was over, Lily rejoined her friends and James went to get drinks

for them all When he returned, he handed out the drinks and leaned toward

Lily. Thinking he was ready for more dancing, she got up and took his hand,

heading for the dance floor. When he held back, she looked at him

questioningly.

"Lily, I want to ask you something. Can we go away from the

dance floor, though?" James asked, looking rather nervous.

Lily nodded and

James led her toward the quieter end of the Hall.

"Lily, I was

wondering...will you finally accept me as your boyfriend?" he asked, whilst

staring down and evidently admiring his shoes.

A soft hand pulled his chin

back up, forcing him to look at her. Lily saw the desperate hope in his

eyes, and nodded her head with a little smile. His answering grin was so

bright she thought it must be lighting the entire room as he pulled her into

a hug and kissed the tip of her nose.


	9. Chapter 9

Lily awoke on Christmas morning with a banging headache, and all the feeling in her legs had vanished. She sat up and saw the reason for her numb legs: lying across them were James, Sirius, Coral, and Lacey. Lily looked about for Remus, but he wasn't in her room.

By the time she was nearly ready to give up on getting the others off her legs, she decided to remind them it was Christmas and threaten that if they didn't get off her legs, the presents would vanish. That had the desired result, and they moved groggily off her legs. She decided find Remus, so she went to the Gryffindor common room; but she noticed in dismay that he wasn't there, and by the look of the boys' dorm not one of them had gone there at all last night. Scurrying out of the room, she ran back to the Heads' suite and looked in James's room, where she a peacefully sleeping Remus. Gently she shook him awake and then returned to the common room to open her mound of presents.

Remus walked in a minutes later and sat her. Yawning, he began to open his presents.

"Lily, are you not finishing opening your gifts?" James asked, wandering in and eyeing his new girlfriend.

"No, not yet. I'm going to go find the aspirin." Lily held her head in pain.

James looked worried as Lily wobbled out of the portrait hole and he got up to follow her. Once he was outside he looked up and down the corridor, but there was no sign of Lily. He began walking up to the Hospital Wing, and when he got nearer he saw Lily ahead, slumped against a wall with her eyes rolling back in her head. He ran to her and picked her up, and ran the rest of the way up to the Infirmary.

When he entered, Madame Pomfrey barely looked up, just pointed to a bed where he could put Lily down. James laid her down gently and perched anxiously on the chair next to the bed. He held her hand tightly, hoping that she hadn't forgot she had agreed to go out with him. He gave her hand a little squeeze.

When Madam Pomfrey had not come to see to Lily after several minues, James jumped up and walked over to the Matron's desk. He pointed at Lily with a worried expression and cried, "Help her, you old bat! Can't you see there's something wrong with her? Put down that damned magazine and help us." Angrily he ripped the copy of Witch Weekly out of her hands.

When he finally had her attention, he pointed to Lily once more. Madame Pomfrey stood up, her lips pursed in annoyance, and walked over to Lily. After looking at Lily more closely and feeling her forehead and pulse, Madam Pomfrey's eyes grew wide with alarm. James noticed and ran back over to the bed on which Lily lay, pale and silent.

"What's the matter with her? Is she okay?" he asked frantically, gripping Madam Pomfrey's shoulders and giving her a little shake.

The Matron eyed him coldly and ostentatiously stared down at his hands until, slightly ashamed of his actions, he removed them. "Well, I don't understand it, but she seems to have been poisoned," Madame Pomfrey said in utter confusion. "She'll have to be sent to St Mungo's."

James knelt beside the bed and placed his arms on the coverlet next to Lily, burying his head in them. The old nurse uttered a spell and a smal, silvery owl, appearing almost solid , issued from her wand and flapped out of the Infirmary. A few moments later Dumbledore walked into the room.

"Thank you for summoning me, Poppy." He examined Lily briefly and then nodded. "Mr Potter," he said calmly to James, "if you wish to accompany Evans to St Mungo's, I can arrange that for you." Then he vanished. James stared at Lily, knowing there was never any question but that he would go with her.

Madame Pomfrey disapeared when James said he would be going with Lily, and came back holding a little pouch. She pushed James into her office and then levitated Lily in as well. Once Lily was safely in James' arms, Madame Pomfrey threw a fistful of Floo powder into the fireplace and James shouted, "St Mungo's" and stepped into the fire.

He and Lily disappeared in a swirl of emerald flames. When they arrived at St Mungo's just moments later, Healers were waiting for them. They gently relieved James of his burden and proceeded to take Lily off to a ward, with James close on their heels.

Back in the common room, the other friends were growing worried as neither James nor Lily had returned. Sirius had just opened his mouth to say something when a brown owl apeared at the window. He ran to unlatch the window and let it in. A letter was attached to its right leg. Sirius unrolled the small piece of parchment and read it quickly. The letter read:

Dear Sirius (or whoever has managed to beat him to opening the letter),

I'm writing this from St Mungo's, as when I left the common room I found Lily slumped against the wall and her eyes were rolling around in her head. I rushed her to Madame Pomfrey, who said she had been poisoned and said Lily needed to be taken to St Mungo's. Then Dumbledore appeared and said I could go with her. I can't say much more, as I haven't heard anything yet from the swarm of Healers buzzing round her. I have to go now.

Prongs

Sirius turned grey. Coral, who had been watching him since he opened the letter, jumped up and took it out of his hand and read it over again. When she had finished she gasped and dropped the letter, tears forming in her eyes.

"What is it, Coral?" Remus asked in a soothing voice. Coral rushed over him and began to cry on his shoulder.

"Lily's in St Mungo's-she's been poisoned," she sobbed.

Lacey gasped and reached for the letter; once she had read it, she, too, burst into tears. Coral went to her and they hugged each other as they cried and sniffled. Remus rose and went over to pat Coral reassuringly on the back; Sirius, feeling rather helpless, did the same for Lacey.

In the ward at St Mungo's, James began questioning random Healers, trying to get more information about Lily's condition, both because he was aware that hisletter hadn't explained enough and because he wanted to know for his own reassurance. Just as he went to approach another Healer someone hailed him. Turning, he saw that it was the head Healer.

"Mr Potter, Dumbledore has sent us news that you must return to school immediately. You may return tomorrow," the healer said, not unkindly. He led James to the fireplace with haste. James barely had time to turn around and thank the healers before the head Healer was throwing Floo powder into the grate and shouting, "Hogwarts, Gryffindor Heads' common room."

Sirius and Remus were still hovering over the sobbing girls when green flames whooshed up in the grate. Sirius looked up to see an ash-covered James climbing out of the fireplace. The girls turned to face him anxiously.

"What happened?" they demanded.

James went to sit tiredly on the sofa and the girls followed suit. He explained everything-or at least as much as he knew. The girls gasped in horror when he finished. They both hugged him and went to their dates from the previous night.

"I think we'll go up to bed now," Coral said. "Er-Happy Christmas," she added rather uncertainly. Lacey nodded.

James took one look at the pile of still-unopened presents and sighed. He sat down and began to open the ones in his pile, Remus and Sirius having already completed theirs, but his heart was no longer in it. Sirius had received a watch, a book on housebreaking dogs, a miniature version of himself in Animagus form (James had done that), and many different sweets along with refills on Dungbombs and other Zonko products.

Remus had got several books, a watch, a few sweets, a glow-in-the-dark wolf clock (he just grinned at this), and a Gryffindor scarf.

James decided not to open his presents just yet, as it wouldn't have been any fun without Lily. Instead, he put them in his room and took Lily's into her room to await her return.

"James, would you like us to stay here with you?" Remus asked. James just nodded. He conjured three sleeping bags on the floor, and they all climbed in without another word.

Although, in the silence, Sirius was sure he could hear James sobbing. 


	10. Chapter 10

Clare Garlick ch.10

James woke up in the middle of the night to see his two best friends sleeping around him. He had woken up for a reason-Lily was in pain, and he knew it. He walked over to his bedroom door and silently, so as not to wake the others, pulled it open. In the drawer by his bed was a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote:

Padfoot, Moony-

I have gone to St Mungo's. I think Lily is getting worse. I can't describe how I know. But I awoke in the early hours of the morning with an odd feeling, and I know it had something to do with Lily. Please let Dumbledore know of my departure. I'll be back later today, not sure what time.

Prongs

He placed the parchment on top of the mantle and left.

When he arrived at St Mungo's, he went straight to Lily's ward. Luckily for him, no Healers were around just then. He sat by Lily's side and read the notes attached to the chart that hung at the foot of her bed. Words like "Drink poisoned", "Time of poisoning-unknown!" and "Came in with boy 'claiming' to know nothing about the poison" were scribbled on the parchment. The last comment made James so angry he actually considered leaving the ward to find the Matron and demand what she meant by it.

He was startled out of his rather violent thoughts along this line when he heard Lily moan. Instantly he took her hand and whispered, "It's okay. Shhh! I'm here now. Don't worry." Lily seemed to relax when she heard his voice.

James was about to leave the ward in search of the loo when he heard a scream from the Matron's office. He ran to the door and knocked, but no one answered. James stood there a moment, puzzled, and then the door opened and Sirius and Remus emerged from the office, covered in soot. James smiled at his friends in delight, then looked into the Matron's office and saw her lying on the floor, apparently Stunned. When he looked back at his friends, he saw that Remus had his wand out.

"Did you Stun Healer Davis?" James asked in astonishment.

"Well, Remus Petrified her. She wouldn't have let us in here otherwise," Sirius told him. He looked round. "Well-how is Lily? Where is she?"

"Oh, she's over here," James said, and led the way to Lily's room.

Sirius and Remus stared down at Lily, and James went back to pacing the ward. When he finally returned to Lily's side, he stared at her limp form bleakly, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Remus spotted this and hinted broadly that he and Sirius should go and get a drink. When Sirius finally caught on, he stood up and patted James' back awkwardly. Remus tried not to laugh at the surprised look on James' face.

Once his two best friends had gone, James sat down on the foot of Lily's bed and sighed, hoping she would be better soon. He hunkered down and laid his head on the metal footboard, letting his weary mind succumb to the temptation of a nap. Just a short one, he thought...

James awoke to the sound of his friends' worried voices. He kept his eyes shut in order to listen to what they were saying about him or Lily.

"I hope Lily gets better soon; it's painful watching James like this. He acts like it isn't bothering him, when people can see it clearly is," James heard one of them say-he wasn't sure which.

"I agree with you, but he does have a right to be upset. Lily is the love of his life," the other voice said.

James sat up and cleared his throat, startling Remus and Sirius.

"It's all right, carry on talking about me," James laughed.

"I-I-we weren't, mate," Sirius stammered.

James laughed and looked over at Lily. "I think I'll go find the tea room, shall I?" he said, with a pointed look at Remus' and Sirius' decidedly empty hands. With a grin, he took himself off out the door, and Remus and Sirius took over the visitors' chairs to keep watch.

Some time later, Remus burst into the tea room to find James snoring loudly on one of the plastic seats. Remus shook him awake quickly.

"James, Lily is awake! Come on," Remus shouted into James' ear. This had the desired result. James sprang up out of his chair, looked at Remus in disbelief, then ran. Remus followed, panting.

When James reached Lily's bed he saw that she was indeed awake. Lily looked up at him and smiled weakly. James beamed back at her.

The three boys stayed with Lily until the sun shone through the window. By that time the Petrifying spell on the Matron had worn off and they were all promptly kicked out of the ward, as it wasn't visiting hours and Lily needed her rest.

Since they couldn't stay with Lily just then in any case, they decided to return to Hogwarts for a few hours to update the other girls on Lily's condition and to get some breakfast.

The boys waited until the Matron was out on the ward dispensing medication. Then they slipped into her office and climbed into the fireplace.

"Gryffindor common room!" James shouted. The emerald flames engulfed them, and died away to reveal the worried expressions of Coral and Lacey, who sat by the common room fire anxiously awaiting their return.

"How is Lily? Is she getting better? Tell us everything right now!" Lacey demanded.

"Lily's fine. She woke up for a little while, but then we got kicked out. Oh, and Sirius and Remus here Flooed in and Petrified Healer Davis," James summarised quickly.

"She woke up? That's great! Why on earth did you Petrify a Healer?" Lacey asked, her mood lightening now she knew her friend was on the road to recovery.

The five friends joined the few others who were up this early and walked down for breakfast, planning the next day's journey to St Mungo's-the difference being that next time, Lacey and Coral would be going, too. 


	11. Chapter 11

Clare Garlick

ch 11

Last night had been the best for James; Lily had woken up, and he'd managed to fit all four of his friends into his room. It was like the sleepover he'd had never had. They had stayed awake most of the night telling secrets, during many of which you could hear James, Sirius and Remus singing their latest version of "Lalalalalala I Don't Want To Hear This" whenever things got too girlie for them.

James had finally drifted off to sleep alongside Remus and Sirius. The girls, however, had stayed awake and, much to James' horror, using their wands like razors they had etched the word "prat" on his head. Then they decided a bit of makeup wouldn't go amiss. When they had finally added the finishing touches to his mascara, lip-gloss, blusher, foundation, and eyeshadow, they fell asleep.

James awoke with a start. He looked around the room and noticed he was the only one there. He got up and threw his robes over his head, then ran from the dorm and through the portrait hole. When he reached the Great Hall he looked round, panting. Quietly he opened the door and walked in, and every head turned to look at him.

"Sorry I'm late, sir," James shouted to his Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

James took his place at the Gryffindor table, blithely unaware of his beautified appearance. Before going to breakfast, Remus and Sirius had been told what the girls had done to James and had been told not to mention a word of it to him. Both boys agreed, after a precautionary check of their own reflections in a mirror first.

James grabbed the nearest plate of food and began to eat, still unaware that everyone was staring at his appearance. He only stopped eating when Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands.

"I should like to say good morning to you all—and to reassure you that no matter your outward appearance—" with a significant nod in James' direction— "you always will be accepted here at Hogwarts. You may proceed to continue your day as planned. Good day."

James, Sirius, Remus, Coral, and Lacey ran to the common room and practically dived into the fireplace. After they had squeezed in as best they could, they stopped squirming long enough to fling down a pinch of Floo powder and shout, "St Mungo's!"

The Matron at St Mungo's didn't look startled or even particularly surprised at the arrival of the young witches and wizards that clambered out of the fireplace a moment later. She did seem rather confused at James' new look, though.

"How is Miss Lily Evans, could you please tell us?" Remus asked the Matron.

"She's getting better. It seems the poison accessed her body through food or drink. You're very lucky she awoke. I should like to have a word with you before you leave," the Matron said to James in a brisk manner that reminded him strongly of Professor McGonagall.

James practically ran to Lily's bed when he saw she was awake, and hugged her tightly as if he hadn't seen her in ages. Sirius and Remus had to prise him off her in the end, as Lily began to turn a violent shade of blue.

"Lily, you're awake," James squealed excitedly. Lily, still recovering from being hugged, just nodded.

The boys sat around her bed and chatted, with Lily looking at James' hair every now and again and chuckling to herself. Every time James turned his back, Lily looked at the girls and gave them thumbs-up, then pointed at James.

After a few hours, the Matron came to throw the four teenagers out. They were walking back to her office to Floo back to Hogwarts when she stopped them and pulled James aside.

"Look, young man, I need to tell you this. Miss Evans is very lucky. If she hadn't woken tomorrow, we could have safely said that she was dead, or at least dying very slowly. We aren't exactly sure of the source of the poison, but we _are_ sure that it was taken through food or drink. She very nearly died over the last few days. She's had to have over five potions every three hours. It's very fortunate indeed that she woke up faster than expected. You are very lucky—so lucky I can't express it enough—that she is alive. I hope you realise that. Now, before you go—she should be ready to go home tomorrow. If you would like to pick her up, then just come down during visiting hours. See you very soon, I hope." The Matron smiled at James as she spoke.

The fact that James could have lost Lily after having only just won her over hit him hard. The only word he managed to say to the Matron was, "Oh."

The three other students were allowed to come in the office now. They wanted to know what the Matron had wanted with James, but from the distant look on his face it wasn't worth asking. The clambered into the fire place and, by contrast to the way they had arrived, whispered, "Gryffindor common room," although James barely even mouthed it.

As soon as James stepped out of the fireplace he collapsed in a chair and stared straight ahead of him. Even when Sirius stood in front of him, it looked as if James was looking right through him. Remus decided he had had enough.

"James, what's the matter? What did the Matron say to you?" Remus asked softly, as though asking a three-year-old about his nightmare. James didn't reply. He looked at Remus for a moment, then ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. When Sirius and Remus reached the door of their dorm, they crept in and looked about. On the bed near the window, James lay crying. He looked a mess; his mascara was running, and that damned Potter curse had struck again: his hair was rapidly growing back, as unruly as ever.

"James? What's the matter? Please tell us. W e can help," Remus whispered. Sirius stood by and scoffed, earning him a glare from Remus.

"Its nothing, honest. I don't feel like talking, that's all," James lied.

"We're not stupid. Well—I'm not. Don't know about Sirius over here," Remus joked. Now it was Sirius' turn to give out the dirty look.

"Please you guys," James begged.

"No, we have a right to know," Lacey shouted. She and Coral had just come in the door and looked angry. "Lily's our best mate. If something dire is going to happen to her, we ought to be told."

"Fine. You want to know? The Matron said, and I quote, 'If she hadn't woken tomorrow, we could have safely said that she was dead, or at least dying very slowly.' She also said, 'She very nearly died over the last few days'!" James shouted.

A sudden silence fell. The three boys looked at each other, then at the two girls, who had tears welling up in theirs eyes. Suddenly Lacey gave a little sob and ran from the room. Coral shot James a reproachful look and followed. From a distance the boys heard her call, "Lacey, wait!" The sound of Lacey's weeping moved away, then ceased altogether when the door swung shut once again.

When Sirius and Remus turned around, James was crying again. They went to sit with on his bed, making tentative, rather awkward attempts to comfort him.

"James, she's okay now. Don't worry, she'll be home soon," Remus tried.

James just glared at him until Sirius said, "James, Marauders don't cry. You're going to break your own cardinal rule if you carry on like this!" He grinned as he said it. James stopped crying abruptly at this. He had never yet broken a Marauder rule.

"You guys don't understand. I—I—well, I—" James started.

"For God's sake, James. You _what_?" Sirius snapped at his friend.

"I love her, okay?" James shouted, and immediately buried his head under his pillow.

Sirius groaned. James had officially done it—he had broken a Marauder rule! But this time he didn't seem to care. Sirius stomped out of the room, fed up with the whole situation. Remus, on the other hand, stayed put.

"James, if you love her, we'll help you," Remus told him. "Do you want us to go with you to bring Lily back tomorrow?"

"Remus, no offence, mate, but...I don't think I need Sirius' help. He—well, you know," James shrugged.

Remus nodded and trotted off down the stairs with James close on his heels.

It was decided that they were all going en masse to pick Lily up from the hospital. James had made the girls sleep in Lily's room, as he hadn't quite forgiven them for the whole "prat" thing, or the makeup, either.

James woke earlier than the rest of them due to a noise at the door. Once he managed to untangle himself from the quilt, he got up to find someone was knocking at the portrait hole. Yawning, he swung the portrait open to find Professor McGonagall standing there in her tartan night robes.

"I believe you'll be collecting Lily from the hospital today, is that correct?" she asked tiredly.

"Yes, Professor," James nodded.

"Very well. I just wanted to make sure someone would be accompanying her," McGonagall said. "Carry on, Mr Potter." She nodded and walked back to her quarters. James remained standing at the portrait hole for a few seconds, and then he retreated inside to wake the others.

Once everyone had got up and was dressed and ready, they all walked to the fireplace and clambered in once again. Five voices could be heard uttering, "St Mungo's!"

The Matron looked up to see the same five teenagers brushing themselves off and climbing out of the grate in her office. She noticed that Miss Evans' particular friend, that nice young Mr Potter, had dark hair that looked like it wouldn't stay down even if you applied a steamroller to it.

He looked quite excited this morning. The Matron showed them once again to Lily's bed, where she waited, fully dressed, with all her possessions around her. Lily smiled and thanked Healer Davis, the Matron, and stood up. Since she hadn't been on her feet much for the last several days, she was a bit unsteady and had to hold onto James' arm for support.

They had started moving toward the fireplace when Lily stopped suddenly. The others looked round to see what the holdup was.

"Go on without me—I've forgot something. James, would you help me find it?" Lily asked, smiling. Remus, who instantly cottoned on to what she was doing, dragged the others away and took them back though the fireplace to the Gryffindor common room.

"I missed you, James," Lily smiled.

"I've missed you, too. But I still don't think much of your friends after what they did to me," James joked.

Lily laughed and immediately realised this was a bad idea, clutching her side in agony. James look horrorstricken and, for some reason, apologised. Lily just smiled and motioned him toward the fireplace.

When they reached the Gryffindor common room, they went to where their friends sat together, waiting for them, and Lily hobbled over, clutching James' arm. Lacey and Coral greeted her warmly and settled her in the most comfortable armchair, laughing, talking, and asking questions about her ordeal.

After a few minutes of this, the boys, feeling they were no longer wanted, ran off upstairs. They flung themselves onto Remus' bed, as it was the one that hardly ever got jumped on and was the firmest.

"James loves Lily," Remus and Sirius said in sing-song voices.

James glared at them and told them to shut up, but he couldn't quite hide the silly little smile that played around his lips when they teased him. So the morning went; they sat on the bed discussing this and that.

Until the topic of Lily and James came up yet again.


	12. Chapter 12

Clare

Chapter 12

School had begun once again, meaning Prefect rounds had to start again. Dumbledore had just finished his speech and dismissed the students for the evening. Lily and James were walking down the corridor, past the statue of the one-eyed witch when Sirius and Remus suddenly jumped out from the newly opened passage leading to Honeydukes, the sweet shop in Hogsmeade.

"Oh, hi-ho, James, Lily...what you doing around here?" Sirius asked, squirming.

"We were—Sirius, why on earth are you squirming? You didn't—you know—have an accident, did you?" James asked in a mocking voice.

"No, I blooming well didn't!" Sirius shouted at his friend, who was now laughing along with his girlfriend.

Sirius sighed and walked off, motioning for Remus to do the same. Remus nodded at the two pre-adults and walked off, following Sirius. James laughed and guided Lily down the corridor.

"What the hell was all that about?" Lily asked.

"Honestly? I have no idea," James told her with a chuckle.

James and Lily headed back to the Heads' common room so they could be alone for a bit. Sirius and Remus had begun to get on James' nerves lately. They kept hinting that Lily and James should get married, and while James thought it was a brilliant idea, still it had taken him nearly six years just to win Lily over—it would take about a century to get her to marry him!

They reached the common room and Lily threw herself into the chair by the fire. James groaned—that was his favourite chair, and Lily knew it. He smiled at her, making her think she had won the chair...then he ran over and dived onto her knee.

"Do we have to go through this every time I get the chair, James?" Lily gasped, still not recovered from having James dive all over her knees on other recent occasions.

"Yep," James replied simply.

Lily sighed. Pushing her boyfriend off her knee, she said, "In that case we have to go through this every time—and you know you never win the chair."

Lily dropped to the floor next to James and straddled him. With an evil grin, she began to tickle him, not stopping until he begged for mercy. After of making James beg for a suitably long period, Lily stopped suddenly. She grinned down at him, but when she went to stand up, James gathered his breath and pulled her back down.

Lily shot him a puzzled look—he had never pulled her back down for more tickling after she'd made him beg! He just smiled at her...then without warning, he flipped so she was beneath him and began to tickle her in revenge.

He had her pinned to the floor and was tickling her sides, resisting her efforts to buck him off as she thrashed her legs and laughed until tears ran down her face, when Sirius and Remus walked in. Remus took one look at the laughing couple on the floor, then cocked an eye at his other best mate and dragged him back out of the portrait hole. Their interruption, however, had not gone unnoticed.

"Man, I know they're Marauders, but how do they find out every password to places I don't want them to go? Last year, for instance, I put a charm on my trunk so you needed a password to open it. I know I never said the password around them, and I always used a Silencing Charm around my bedhangings when I wanted to get into the trunk, but one day Sirius was annoying me with his wand—he kept making me turn upside down by my ankle and paraded me down the corridors like this—" James demonstrated and then had to stop talking while Lily dissolved in another fit of laughter. After she had calmed down, he carried on.

"So I put his wand in my trunk, left the room, and when I came back at nighttime I opened my trunk. Sirius had finally noticed that his wand had gone missing, and there was a note in the trunk that said, 'Hey, James, you prat, did you really think you could hide my wand forever in the trunk? Nice password, by the way,'" James concluded.

Lily chuckled and sat back in the chair…James' chair.

_Here we go again_, James thought to himself.

There was a loud knocking at the portrait. Lily jumped up straightened out her robes, then walked over to open the portrait.

"Remus, Sirius." Lily greeted each one and welcomed them in.

"Yo, man, nice pad!" Sirius exclaimed.

"What's got into him?" James asked, looking amused.

"Someone slipped him a Slang potion again," Remus told his friends with a rueful laugh. "Anyway, we have to go and see Slughorn. So we'll see ya, buddy." Remus waved.

"Peace out, homies," Sirius responded, banging his fist against his chest then flashing the peace sign.

Lily and James just waved; then, once Remus and Sirius had left, they burst out laughing. When their laughter was dying down, Lily glanced over to see James looking at her with a rather solemn expression.

"Lily, I need to tell you something," he began, turning red.

"Oh, James, can't it wait until later? I have tons of homework to do," Lily begged, until James nodded.

He sighed for the sake of lost opportunities, then quietly left the common room so Lily could study. Sirius and Remus were running down the corridor toward him. James held up a hand to stop them.

"Sirius, Remus, I need you to block off every corridor but one. Then meet me in the unblocked corridor and make sure everyone else goes there, too," James told his two fellow Marauders with a determined look on his face.

He definitely looked like a man with a plan, so without questions, Remus and Sirius nodded their understanding, then ran off to do what he'd asked. James ran to the one-eyed witch and climbed though the passage leading to Honeydukes.

James entered Honeydukes and brought a special box of chocolates, then went to the florist shop. He had never been in a florist shop before and was not quite sure what he should be looking for. However, he had always heard that "candy and chocolates" were the way to a girl's heart, so he intended to do his best to get them for Lily.

"Hi there, young man. Can I help you?" a friendly-looking witch asked.

"Yeah, erm, could I have a dozen white lilies and four red roses, please?" James asked, hoping he had ordered right.

"Is it for a lady friend?" the witch asked. James nodded. "Oh! Well, in that case, would you like them gift-wrapped?" James nodded again.

"Can I pick them up in about ten minutes?" he asked.

"Sure you can, lovey." The witch smiled.

James thanked the florist and ran off to another shop. He entered the new and glitzy jewelry shop and admired the flashing, glittering wares for sale. Before long, an elderly wizard approached him.

"Are you looking for anything particular?" the wizard asked.

"Yes, sir. I need something to show the woman I love just how much I love her," James told him rather quietly.

The wizard nodded and guided James to a particular window display. He picked up a gold bracelet and matching necklace to show James, each with a red ruby in every second link. James could have hugged the wizard—it was perfect. He nodded, too excited to speak, and quickly paid for the jewels. Then he ran back to the florist, where the box of flowers was wrapped and ready. He thanked the young witch and paid for the flowers. Then he dashed back to Honeydukes and through the secret passage. When he reached the one-eyed witch, he peered cautiously round the statue to see that the coast was clear. He ran all the way to the corridor that was to have remained unblocked, keeping his fingers crossed all the way.

"It's the second corridor on the third floor, James. Everyone is waiting, including Lily. Well off you go, then," Remus told James, giving him a little shove to get him started. James gave a brief nod to his friends and ran to the corridor.

When he arrived, his eyes automatically sought ought Lily among the hordes of other puzzled and disgruntled students, and he went to stand next to her. She rounded on him in annoyance.

"James Potter! Why is everyone saying you've demanded a full school meeting in this corridor?" Lily asked him, sounding rather angry.

He didn't say anything but pulled out the miniature bouquet and Transfigured it back to its normal size. He handed it to her with a flourish and said, "Twelve lilies for the number of times you slapped me last year. And the four red roses are for the four months we've been going out." He smiled at her disarmingly, and Lily turned red.

"Why—thanks, James. This is really special," Lily whispered to him.

James pulled out the chocolates next and said, "These are to show how good our relationship is."

Lily smiled weakly, casting quick glances around them at the crowd of students watching. Half the girls looked lost in daydreams, and some of the boys looked rather envious.

"I have one more thing to give you; then you're free to slap me—or follow me back to the dorm." James passed her his last two gifts, which were wrapped up in light blue paper with a pink bow. She gently unwrapped the packet and gasped when she saw what was inside.

"James! Wow, this is beautiful. You're the best." Lily was almost crying.

"Before you go, I have one more thing to say: _Il nostro amore non morirà mai_."

"Oh, James," she said softly. "That's beautiful. I love you, James. Really I do." Lily broke down and began to cry. She laid her head on James' shoulder and he hugged her to him tightly, whispering, "I love you, too," in her ear.

Everyone around them began to clap, including the teachers—Lily hadn't noticed them before. She smiled weakly at the Headmaster, who had a tear in his eye and was clapping more vigourously than anyone.

"Well, well…I think a celebration is in order! All exams for seventh years are canceled until next year. So let endless parties take place in empty classrooms!" Dumbledore announced cheerfully.

The seventh years cheered and ran off in all directions. James, Remus, Sirius, and Lily ran towards the one-eyed witch; their own party was going to be held in the Heads' dorm. Lily and Remus had placed a Soundproof Spell on the common room. All that was left was to round up the food, butterbeer, and balloons.

Not one teacher even attempted to bother them that night!


End file.
